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Barcelona Classic Discussion
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| Alakagom |
Posted on 07-11-2014 17:00
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World Champion
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 Barcelona Classic GP
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Barcelona plays host to the next classic on the C2 calendar. The course covers 9 laps of a 20 km circuit, which includes the tricky climb to Montjuic. Luckily for the pure sprinters present here, they're climbing the less steep side, although it does include a few steeper sections. The question is can pure sprinters survive with enough energy for a good sprint or more punchieur riders will be suited?
Bobby Squire took a solo win last year from the break,he dropped his companions and with help of disorganized peleton he comfortably won the race. Peleton will be more weary this time round, but the course is perfect for late attacks from daring opportunists!
| 1 |  Robby Squire | ANC-Halfords | 5h03'50 | | 2 |  Leonardo Duque | Die Berg Komt Er | + 38 | | 3 |  Aleksandr Mironov | LukOil-Rostelekom | s.t. |
The Startlist
Sprinters | | Sprint | Hill |  | Rowe | 80 | 62 |  | Forero | 80 | 61 |  | Drapac | 80 | 53 |  | Haedo | 79 | 65 |  | Vingerling | 79 | 61 |  | Peeters | 79 | 60 |  | Fonseca | 78 | 61 |  | Sinner | 78 | 61 |  | Aguilar | 77 | 61 |  | Gavazzi | 77 | 54 |  | Teruel | 77 | 60 |  | Caethoven | 77 | 67 | | Richeze | 77 | 62 |  | Uugunbayar | 77 | 62 |  | Schinker | 77 | 63 | | Hawkins | 76 | 64 | | Poulhiès | 76 | 64 | | Arango | 76 | 63 | | Angarita | 76 | 62 | | Meenhorst | 76 | 60 | | Averin | 76 | 63 | | Sweeting | 76 | 70 |  | Gajek | 76 | 56 |  | Lorenzetto | 76 | 69 | | Priamo | 76 | 66 | | Ilesic | 76 | 55 | | Bole | 76 | 74 |  | Minard | 76 | 67 |
Puncheurs | | Hill | Sprint |  | Lejman | 77 | 59 | | Bole | 74 | 76 | | Fahnert | 74 | 63 | | Valencia | 74 | 61 |  | Pozdnyakov | 73 | 75 | | Borges | 73 | 69 | | Losada | 73 | 64 | | Grau | 73 | 58 | | Mate | 73 | 53 | | Millan | 72 | 74 | | Kohler | 72 | 71 | | Veilleux | 72 | 71 | | Sobal | 72 | 69 | | Earle | 72 | 66 | | Yemane | 72 | 53 | | Iglinski | 71 | 75 | | Golas | 71 | 74 | | Umerbekov | 71 | 68 | | Declerq | 71 | 65 | | Chernetskiy | 71 | 60 |
Quite a varied mixed of riders here and no surprise as the course really allows many different scenarios to be played out. Beginning with the pure sprinters.
Forero and Rowe are the quickest sprinters present that can climb relatively well compared to other pure sprinters as well as being well supported by teammates capable of good leadout.
Drapac is the most unlikely favorite to win the race as he can't climb for shit, however he's one of best sprinters here and if the race comes to a bunch sprint he has a good leadout present with Hawkins and Sobal.
One team that will fancy their chances here has to be Azteca who with Haedo have a very fast sprinter and most capable climber out of the fastest sprinters, giving him big edge on such circuit. Alongside having almost a perfect leadout for such race with Millan and Veilleux. This could be a big race for Azteca. Nutresa will also fancy their chances with Caethoven being again one of better puncheurs present.
The list of fast sprinters is quite big here, there's no point mentioning them all since you can see their stats and most are very similar.
There's three sprinters down on that list that catch most interest, none of them being the quickest obviosuly, but all three managing punchy climbs very well. Bole, Sweeting & Lorenzetto should be expected to compete no matter if this race gets selective or less so.
Talking about top puncheurs, there's not a great deal of them here, most managers probably found the circuit too risky for puncheurs, however we have a PCT team taking a stab at it bringing Lejman. Hard to say if the gamble will pay off, but it well could!
Already second on the list is one rider that was mentioned on the sprinter list. And that's all that needs to be said, Bole really should excel here no matter what race scenario.
Two Ameria Bank riders stand out, Pozdnyakov & Iglinski, both just missing out on the sprinter's list, however with their hilly skills they should be up there at the end. Another strong rider with good set of hill skills is Golas, but will he be expected to work for Caethoven or go for it himself?
There's a bunch of strong puncheurs that will want to make the race tough, however most of the strong puncheurs on the list actually have a strong sprinter in their team anyway so will that mean these puncheurs will work for their sprinters and not keep a high pace?
This preview probably gives more answers than questions, the race is definitely open and depending how the race is ridden, anyone could win it.
Edited by SportingNonsense on 07-11-2014 19:05
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| Selwink |
Posted on 07-11-2014 17:04
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Grand Tour Champion
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Iglinski already won here once in 2012. He and Pozdnyakov should both be able to do well here, and even if both fail Popov should be able to survive. All in all confident for a good result. Now just hope the pace is made on the hills.
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| ggDonovan |
Posted on 07-11-2014 17:09
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Breakaway Specialist
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Our home race!
As we lack sprinting force we came here with the best pucheur available. Let's see if we are lucky to score here.
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| Bikex |
Posted on 07-11-2014 17:12
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Team Leader
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My sprinter Uugunbayar was a waste of money every time the street started to go up so there is less hope in him getting a decent result here. My hope is that a break with one of my riders involved makes it to the finish. |
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| The Rider |
Posted on 07-11-2014 17:14
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Well that preview was hot on the heels of Giro del Capo ending!
Break, sprint, late attack: which way will it go? We have riders for all three scenarios though I don't like Aguilar for the sprint. My gut says the early break will contest the win in this one, hills might take too much out of the chasers.
- Super preview.  |
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| roturn |
Posted on 07-11-2014 17:16
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Selwink wrote:
Iglinski already won here once in 2012. He and Pozdnyakov should both be able to do well here, and even if both fail Popov should be able to survive. All in all confident for a good result. Now just hope the pace is made on the hills.
Indeed. Was my first classic win ever I think.
Iirc he attacked midstage and won solo.
Could be a good race for him even though he might not be considered team leader here.
Surprised to not see Geschke here. Could have been a decent shot for him. |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 24-11-2024 10:49
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| Smowz |
Posted on 07-11-2014 17:17
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Team Leader
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I think the preview has more questions than answers 
A hard to predict classic this one, hope for reasonable AI really. It smells of breakaway chance if I am being honest where you might as well play the lottery!
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| Kentaurus |
Posted on 07-11-2014 17:48
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Classics Specialist
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This was one of the profiles I was least comfortable with when planning. I have a mix of riders which should be able to handle this terrain, but it still feels very tough. I did send last years runner up in Duque who hopefully can guide the team on how this can go and will lead us to a winning result.
AZTECA - NBCSN  |
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 07-11-2014 17:50
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Looks like the breakaway bug might be the best bet again. I really need a puncheur next year, unless one of my youngsters gets some good training.
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| Stromeon |
Posted on 07-11-2014 18:06
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Classics Specialist
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Praying for no break - we really need a good result from Forero here.
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| Margh Norway |
Posted on 07-11-2014 18:49
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Sprinter
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Would prefer a slow race without brake, but will take any good result to keep on track. Hard to predict, though past editions showed a lone survivor shouldn't be a big surprise.
Great preview! Thanks, Alakagom!
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| knockout |
Posted on 07-11-2014 19:02
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Grand Tour Champion
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Interesting race here. A late attack seems possible but with the amount of sprinter teams and a relative easy hill there should not be a lot to grab for the early breakaway. Nevertheless, I hope that one of my youngsters will join it.
Bole looks to me as the favourite but Haedo, Pozdnyakov or Caethoven have strong teams behind them, too.
Roturn wrote:
Surprised to not see Geschke here. Could have been a decent shot for him.
tbh, I was slightly surprised, too, when I saw the startlist first 
iirc, I decided against it because i had only 4 race days left and i could choose between a C2HC race, this one and GP Yekaterinburg and I decided against this because I wanted to have a second race in october and the C2HC givves obviously more points. I know that this was propably not the best decision but i wanted to have a chance for a last minute jumpin the rankings (even if it looked unrealistic then) ...
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| ryant |
Posted on 07-11-2014 19:27
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Small Tour Specialist
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I hope that Rowe can continue his recent upsurge in form, hopefully we can grab a top 10 but this race will be unpredictable and I probably will miss out in the end 
 John St Ledger in Team Bunzl-Centrica and Team U25Red Bull Driver in RFactor
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| Scorchio |
Posted on 08-11-2014 09:59
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Tried to cover all bases with the Nutresa line-up for this, but still await race day more in hope than expectation.
Nice preview; hopefully we get an exciting race to warrant the effort rather than a damp squib (yes, I'm a wee bit late with my seasonal references).
S.
Edited by Scorchio on 08-11-2014 10:00
Manager of ISA - Hexacta in the MG |
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| Dippofix |
Posted on 08-11-2014 16:45
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Classics Specialist
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Me at the start of the race: Why the fuck are we working, way too hilly for Drapac.
Me at the finish line: 
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| knockout |
Posted on 08-11-2014 16:47
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Grand Tour Champion
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Congratz to BoI. After Mendes' recent win in Giro del Capo they have managed another big pointer. Surely they have made a big jump into the promotion battle with these two results!
Satisfied with a good nineth place from Saramotins and the brave attempt of our loanee Indulis Bekmanis in the jersey of Team TomTom.
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| Alakagom |
Posted on 08-11-2014 16:48
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World Champion
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This was a weird race Level of chaos with 5km to go was brilliant. Quite a varied top 10, few pure sprinters, few better hilly sprinters and roluers. Representative of the route I guess.
While some sprinters like Drapac had amazing acceleration, some like Peeters, Vingerling or Fonesca just died straight after starting their sprint.
Edited by Alakagom on 08-11-2014 16:49
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 08-11-2014 16:56
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World Champion
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Great ride by Stuyven, too bad he couldn't finish, but really happy with his top 10. Peeters is a very different story. The so-called "steal of the year" has been a disappointment for most of the season.
Liked the report a lot though
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 08-11-2014 17:04
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Drapac! Damion Devil Drapac!
Great stuff. Entertaining report and race, too.
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| ryant |
Posted on 08-11-2014 17:05
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Small Tour Specialist
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Well... can't pretend that I'm not pleased Rowe doing well enough I guess, 6th is not too bad at all.
Shame we couldn't organise a lead out train though, maybe we could have had an advantage there considering the team I sent and the fact we were all well placed in the end
Edited by ryant on 08-11-2014 17:10
John St Ledger in Team Bunzl-Centrica and Team U25
Red Bull Driver in RFactor
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